Julius sheldon



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JULIUS SHELDON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO GElSWOLl) AND SHELDON,OF THE SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No, 63,434, dated April 2, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN EAT-BLCOKING MAGHINES' Be it known that I, JULIUSSHELDON, of the city, county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Blocking Hats, andthat the following is a full and clear description thereof, referencebeing bad to the annexed drawings, of which V Figure 1 is a verticalsection of the machine, showing in black lines the position ready toreceive a hat body, and in red lines the position when the blocking ofthe hat is finished, and the machine ready to be opened to take the hatout.

Figure 2 is a. plan view of the flanges containing the rubber ring, thelever to operate the same, the ring to break the band, and its lever andthe extra stretchers.

Figure 3 shows a but as it comes from themachine.

My invention refers to certain improvements in a machine, a patent forwhich has been applied for by Joseph De La Mar, and assigned to Griswoldand Sheldon, for blocking hats by stretching out the crown by means ofexpansible framework, and by stretching out the brim part of the hat byclamps that take a firm hold of the brim, and are then raised from aninclined position up to ahorizontal position, as described in thespecification of said De La Mar; and my improvements consist First, inthe manner of raising and lowering the expansible framework in order toadjust the machine to the various required depths of hats.

Second, in constructing a ring that will serve a threefold purposc,first, of giving pressure to the clamps by means of springs; second, offorming the point of attachment for a number of inclined projections forthe phrpose of giving the edge or periphery of the brim of the hat anextra stretch in order to overcome the shrink age of the felt; andthird, it is provided with a rim at its bottom, which breaks the band,and is capable of being changed to suit the various sizes of hats.

Another improvement consists in the application of a rubber ring to bearupon the tip of the hat body, while the expansible bars are beingexpanded to some extent in order to flatten out the apex of the hatbody.

Referring to the drawings, there is a stem, (1, placed in the centre ofa square table, Z7, capable of turning, and provided with a screw-threadat its upper part, and operated or rotated by a handle below the table,not shown in the drawings. A nut, a, below the table, together with aflange above the table, serves to keep said stem a in place. This steinbears a horizontal plate, 0, capable of being raised and lowered byturning said stem (1. At the circumference of the plate a are jointed toit a'number of curved bars, 62, the upper ends of which can be expandedand contracted by means of links, d, which are jointed to the upper endof a centre rod, 0, which passes vertically through the centre of stemat, and is operated by any convenient lever arranged underneath thetable. It is evident that by rotating stem at the whole of these barscan be raised or lowered to suit the depth of hat to be made on themachine. A ring, f, supported by rods, f, which are secured to thetable, is placed couccntrical with the centre rod 0. Hinged to the outerperiphery of this ring are a number of clamps, 1 the lower ends of whichrest upon a horizontal plate, it, which plate, being moved up or down bya proper arrangement of lovers below the table, can raise or lower saidclamps. When said clamps are lowered to a position as shown in blacklines, they are thrown open by springs 1', and held so, ready to receivethe hat body. When the ha't body is placed over the machine, the clampsare closed by raising the ringlc, which, acting upon a short projectionof the upper part of the clamps, causes them to turn on their pivots,and to close and, seize the brim of the hat. While those are being heldin this position, the ring Zis brought down by turning lever Z from theposition shown in black lines down to the position shown in red lines.This ring being furnished with a number of springs, at, one for eachclamp, will give the required pressure to these clamps, and enable themto take a firm hold of the brim of the hat, so that when these clampsare brought up to a horizontal posi tion by the said plate 72, that partof the hat body which is held by the clamps is brought out to a flatbrim; But as the felt when released of the strain will invariably shrinkback on account of its elasticity, and to some extent resume its formershape, I give the edge of the brim an extra stretching by the inclinedprojections 72, attached to ring Zin radiating directions, andintervening between the clamps below, which will depress the brimbetween the clamps, when said clamps come up to their horizontalposition, thereby corrugatiug the periphery of the brim, so that when itshrinks it will assume the flat shape. In order to break a sharp cornerbetween the brim and the cylindrical part of the hat, or, as it iseommonly called, to break the band, and break it for different-sizedhats, I eflix a. sharp-edged ring, 0, to the bottom of ring Z, which Ican change for difierent sizes of hats. The most difficult part ofblocking hats is stretching out the tip Hat, on account of the tendencyof the felt to shrink back to its original shape and form, unless thestretching has been carried beyond a certain point. To accomplish thisin the crown or tip, and form it almost perfectly flat, I use a ring,22, of India. rubber, almost fitting the circumference of the bars 02,when contracted, and force the same over the hat body when on themachine. This ring, taking hold of the hat body near the ends of thebars and expanding with said here, will concentrate all the strainexercised by the ends of the burs upon the very tip of the hat body, andthe stretching will be limited to this part; whichwill be stretchedbeyond shrinking. This rubber ring may be forced over the felt by handor it may be to a. metal flange and may be raised off or lowered downupon the felt by a. lever, q, hinged to any convenient pert'of themachine.

I make no claim to the invention described by De La. Mary but what Iclaim as my invention in the abovedescribed machine, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of stem a, plate 0, and bars d, arrangedsubstantially as described.

2. The combination of the ring Z with the springs m, one separate springfor each clamp, arranged substantially as described and for the purposespecified. v

3. The rubber ring 19, applied to the tip of the hat body, substantiallyas described.

4. The combination of the ring 0 with the ring Z, the said ring 0 beingmade detachable, substantially as described and for the purposedescribed.

JULIUS SHELDON.

Witnesses:

J. F. OALLAX, ALBERT H. HOOK.

